Finland is boiling with rage this weekend over the $25 M bonus payment the CEO Stephen Elop is set to receive as he leaves Nokia after his two-year tenure. Questions are now being raised by the oddest aspect of the bonus: the board of Nokia seems to have given Elop a $25 M incentive to sell the handset unit cheaply to Microsoft way back in in 2010. This effectively means that the board hired a man who was given a giant carrot to drive down Nokia's overall valuation and phone volumes while preparing a sale to Microsoft. What could possibly be a reason to structure Elop's original contract in this manner? Did the board in fact end up promising Elop more compensation in case he sells the phone division than if he runs it with modest success?

They thought it was a smart idea to get out of a tricky market situation by spinning out their OS, in the process losing too many smart people to carry on as an independently influential entity, thus ending up scuttling off to make niche devices for businesses.

Apparently they're richer now then they ever were in the tricky & turbulent waters of ceaseless innovation. Not much, mind. Entirely irrelevant & uninteresting too.